• Keen
• 3

So a little while ago I mentioned that Webs had cemented itself in my mind as producer of my very favorite ad ever (for utterly selfish reasons I might add).  It seems they now have a bit of competition.  Turns out Knit Picks has similarly good taste.

See that wee picture down in the corner?  That’s mine.  I must confess, it is still deeply odd to see my wee little book in real live stores.  Satisfying, but odd.  I’m totally willing to get used to it though!

• Good Omens
• 0

I am more or less the least superstitious person you’re ever likely to meet.  I don’t believe in ghoulies or ghosties, signs or spirits.  I am, at least most of the time, alarmingly practical and frightfully level headed (or, as some have suggested, soulless and dead inside, whichever you prefer).  That said, I do rather like the instruction that came in my fortune cookie last night.

Now of course I know that fortunes are written to be as broadly appealing and as generally applicable as possible.  That’s why they work.  But I feel like expanding my horizons is exactly what I’m doing.

I’ve been having all sorts of exciting conversations of late.  Exciting, but not the sort of talks I ever expected to be having.  I’m more or less used to chatting with yarn companies by now.  After all, yarn companies tend to be run by knitters or at lest by people who have a high degree of knitting awareness.  They’re not likely to think the idea of ‘knitting book’ is too terribly odd.  It doesn’t take me too much work to gather up my courage and get in touch.

But now I also find I’m chatting with photographers and graphic designers.  For some reason, I find this a bit more intimidating.  Explaining the idea of ‘knitting book’ to folks who don’t have quite the same degree of knitting awareness can be a tiny bit awkward.  But, and this is the nifty part, so far it’s been entirely fabulous.  There seems to be a general respect for creative enterprise that lets them be excited about the project even if the subject isn’t one that resonates with them.  It’s really quite marvelous.  I have a sneaking suspicion that this next book is going to be exceptionally nifty.

And yes those are actual book swatches in actual book yarns.  The whole thing is coming together brilliantly.  I’m just itching to get my hands on the finished pieces.

• Knit Along Update
• 0

If you’ve been meaning to post your finished pictures of Kazak or Mood over on the March knit along thread, here’s a tiny reminder that you should do it soon.  There’s also still time to cast on Heriz or Afshari for April’s knit along.  There will be a new thread for May’s knit along soon.

So just in case you haven’t committed all of the names to memory, that works out to be:

Post finished pictures of these over here by the end of the month.

And cast these on before the end of the month and talk about them over here.

• One Of The Good Bits
• 9

Writing knitting patterns is an odd sort of undertaking.  It’s mostly marvelous, but it (like any other job) has its less than glorious moments.

But now?  Now I’m smack dab in the middle of one of the very best bits.

The yarn for book two is coming in, and damn is it shiny!  I feel bad for the postman.  He must be getting tired of me accosting him each afternoon to see what new goodies he’s brought me.

There is quite a bit more to come (a few more greens, a wee bit of pink, and dash of orange), but this gives you the idea.

And for those of you paying close attention at home, you can probably tell that some of those are most definitely not sock yarns.  Book the Second will be half socks and half other stuff.

Now you’ll have to excuse me.  I have a mailman to stalk.

• What I Did On My Summer Vacation
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Or rather, what I will be doing.  Just in case you were in some sort of internet-less bubble yesterday, I feel it is my duty to remind you that there was a rather substantial update to the Sock Summit website.  The teacher list, class list, and class schedule all went up.  And no, registration is not open yet.  But you can now spend an truly unreasonable amount of time reading over all the class descriptions and coming up with 14 different variations of your preferred class list.  Not that that’s what I did last night or anything.

The vendor list might also have gone up and Cooperative Press might just happen to be on there.  Not sure about all the details (they’re doing all the hard work, I’m just going on my own as a knitter/student/yarn molester).  That said, I’ll likely spend some time at the booth too (which sounds like an unreasonable amount of fun).  I’ll let you know more when I find out!